Ezetap Co-founder Abhijit Bose is Now Head of WhatsApp India

Abhijit Bose, co-founder and CEO of electronic payment device firm Ezetap, has been appointment as India Head of Facebook-owned WhatsApp. Bose is now leaving Ezetap an will join WhatsApp in early next year to head WhatsApp operations in India.

After leaving his position at Ezetap, Bose will build WhatsApp’s first full country team outside of the US and will be based in Gurgaon. He and his team will focus on helping businesses, both large and small connect with their customers.

Speaking on the appointment, Matt Idema, Chief Operating Officer of WhatsApp, said, “WhatsApp is deeply committed to India and we are excited to keep building products that help people connect and support India’s fast-growing digital economy. As a successful entrepreneur himself, Abhijit knows what it takes to build meaningful partnerships that can serve businesses across India,”

Commenting on his new role, Abhijit Bose, who’s a graduate of Harvard Business School and Cornell University, said, “WhatsApp is special and can be a major partner for financial inclusion and economic growth in India. It’s not only how so many families stay in touch, but increasingly it’s how businesses are engaging with their customers. WhatsApp can positively impact the lives of hundreds of millions of Indians, allowing them to actively engage and benefit from the new digital economy”.

Earlier this year, WhatsApp released the WhatsApp Business app for small business owners and the WhatsApp Business API to serve larger businesses that engage with customers at scale. Today there are over one million users of these WhatsApp business products in India.

WhatsApp is building a dedicated team for India operation as result of regulation that Indian government has enforced in mid of this year. WhatsApp was expected to expand its payment service nationally as soon as June this year but got delayed over and over again due to several reasons, first for having office and team in India and then to explain government more about data localization.

WhatsApp currently has one corporate entity in India, by the name of WhatsApp Application Services Limited, and is registered in Hyderabad with Rakesh Rewari, formerly with Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), and its general counsel Anne Hoge Milken, as the entity’s directors.